Legal Personhood: Activity 3 (Geography, Year 10)

What Are Our Attitudes Towards the Legal Status of Animals: Property or Persons?

The learning sequence for this activity begins with designing an experiment to test peoples’ attitudes towards the idea of granting legal personhood to animals. Once planned, students individually design either a short, online, quantitative survey or conduct two face-to-face qualitative interviews with adults of their choice. Teachers should evenly split the research methods across the class. Results, some of which are tabulated or presented in graph form, are analysed with patterns and anomalies identified. Students communicate the results and their analysis to interviewees in the form of a short report and present a one-minute oral summary of findings to their class.

Time Allocation

Four lessons.

Key Inquiry Questions

What are the community’s attitudes towards the notion of giving legal personhood status to animals such as chimpanzees and elephants? Do these attitudes change after watching an educational video?

What is the difference between qualitative and quantitative research methods in geographical research and when is each one used?

How are surveys and interviews constructed to ensure clarity, consistency, response exclusivity, anonymity and useful results?

Why is it important to recognise that the solution to some geographical questions and problems requires consideration of social, cultural, economic or moral aspects?

Key Focus Areas

Demonstrating to students that giving animals legal personhood status can be an effective environmental management strategy.

Encouraging debate around this issue.

Teaching inquiry skills.

Learning Activities

1. QUESTIONING AND PREDICTING

The teacher leads students in considering the idea of applying legal personhood status to animals.

The teacher supports students to develop an appropriate research question for their empirical research. A potential research question is: ‘Do people think it is reasonable to give legal personhood status to animals?’ Students can predict possible outcomes.

2. PLANNING AND CONDUCTING

Once the research question is confirmed, guide the class in the design of a short quantitative survey OR qualitative interview that seeks to determine peoples’ views on giving legal personhood status to animals.

The same questions are to be answered before respondents watch the video and then again after watching the video.

It is unlikely that survey respondents will have a prior understanding of the issues surrounding legal personhood for animals. As such, students will need to provide them with some information before conducting the interview/survey. The following process is suggested:

i. After students have viewed the Video and read the Fact Sheet, they synthesise the information and summarise it in their own words, either in one paragraph or a series of five-six dot points.

ii. Students then present respondents with their description of legal personhood at the start of the survey/interview. Next, they ask a specific set of questions that focus on the idea of animal rights, rather than specific knowledge about legal personhood. Approximately five questions are recommended. Examples might include: Do you think animals should have legal rights? Do you think giving legal rights to animals would create problems?

iii. Next, respondents view the video.

iv. Finally, students ask respondents to answer the same specific set of questions again.

3. PROCESS AND ANALYSIS

Once responses have been received back from interviewees, students collate and analyse the results, presenting them in an appropriate manner. After a class discussion, students are to write a 200-word analysis of their results including clear reference to the initial research question.

4. EVALUATING

In evaluating the research process, students should consider the reliability of data collected and the limitations of conclusions that can be drawn from the data. Students should identify problems encountered during the process, and discuss possible areas for future improvement.

5. COMMUNICATING

Students could email their 200-word analysis to the people they surveyed or interviewed. An opportunity to present findings to the class in a short oral presentation or via a class discussion is also useful.

6. ASSESSMENT

This activity allows for feedback on student performance by the individual student, their interviewees, peers and the teacher.

Evaluate sources for their reliability, bias and usefulness and select, collect, record and organise relevant geographical data and information, using ethical protocols, from a range of appropriate primary and secondary sources (ACHGS073)

Interpreting, analysing and concluding

Interpret and analyse multi-variable data and other geographical information using qualitative and quantitative methods, and digital and spatial technologies as appropriate, to make generalisations and inferences, propose explanations for patterns, trends, relationships and anomalies, and predict outcomes (ACHGS076)

Communicating

Present findings, arguments and explanations in a range of appropriate communication forms, selected for their effectiveness and to suit audience and purpose; using relevant geographical terminology, and digital technologies as appropriate (ACHGS079)

Reflecting and responding

Reflect on and evaluate findings of an inquiry to propose individual and collective action in response to a contemporary geographical challenge, taking account of environmental, economic, political and social considerations; and explain the predicted outcomes and consequences of their proposal (ACHGS080)

Elaborations:

evaluating the concept of ecosystem services and the importance of these services for sustainability of biodiversity

describing the role of people’s environmental world views (for example, human-centred and earth-centred) in different attitudes and approaches towards environmental management

developing questions of geographical significance about an area of focus in the geographical knowledge and understanding strand

constructing a logical argument, supported by evidence (for example, accounting for observed patterns in wellbeing at the local, national and global scales), and responding to questions

reflecting on the role of personal values and attitudes in influencing their responses to situations including goals (for example, environmental protection)

Cross-Curricular Priority: Sustainability

Acknowledgments

This Australian Curriculum alignment statement is based on the Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority (ACARA) materials, which are licensed under CC BY 4.0. The material has been modified from the Australian Curriculum website (accessed April 2018).